Bread

I know what they say about bread, "buy whole wheat." It's supposed to be better for you, and I even like the whole wheat bread that I buy. It has about 24 grams of whole grain and contains little crunchy black seeds throughout (I know what they are but their name escapes me right now).

I have to buy two kinds of bread - whole wheat for me and Abbie & potato bread for Paul. He found out that wheat and oats are #2's on his food allergy list. Luckily, Abbie and I like the potato bread too; it tastes like regular bread.

My church serves lunch to the poor and homeless at the local soup kitchen once a month. It's called The Melting Pot. They serve chili, crackers, sandwiches, bananas, dessert, and drinks on the third Tuesday of every month. Similar to IHN, my church takes turns with several other churches. Winter is the busiest time of year at The Melting Pot. More people come, and there are many children to be fed too.

For December, I signed up to bring sandwiches and dessert. Early Monday morning, Abbie woke up sick so I could not go to the grocery store to get the items I needed to make sandwiches. I called Paul at work and gave him a list (just a general list; not specific to brands or ingredients).

Hooray for Paul! He did not buy cheap bread or bologna or cheese. He bought all beef bologna, american cheese, and good bread. I am so proud of him. And he was proud of himself and wanted to serve quality food to the people we were volunteering to help. While I was finishing up the brownies, he started assembling sandwiches. For these sandwiches, he bought regular white bread which we have not bought in a while. By the time I got the brownies in the oven, six sandwiches were waiting for me to put in sandwich bags. As I was putting them in the bags, I noticed how soft and luscious the bread felt. I was suddenly craving a baloney sandwich right then and there (I've always been a baloney sandwich fan). Paul said he had bought bread that he remembered eating when he was younger (although it is not Rainbo anymore; it is now called Colonial but the bread bag looks the same). We used both loaves of bread that he bought. Dang! I still wanted a sandwich.

When Abbie got better, I did go to the grocery store and bought another loaf of Colonial white sandwich bread. And I bought another pack of bologna.

Today, I had my second bologna sandwich this week. The bread is soft and yummy!

It's Not Too Early for Pumpkin Pie

Today, I had to make dessert for a church related event (I'll describe it in a minute). I decided to make pumpkin pies, and I made two. The problem is that I wasn't going to be able to eat any of it. They smelled so good, and I really wanted just one little sliver!
Three or four times a year, our church supports another local church host IHN families. IHN stands for Interfaith Hospitality Network. Any church (hence "interfaith") can get involved. IHN takes in homeless families (mom/dad & children or single parents with children) and helps them until they can get on their feet. It is an interesting set up (and I don't know all the details).
The families move to a different church each week - they sleep there and eat breakfast and dinner there. Each morning, after breakfast, they are transported back to the IHN day center (and to work and school depending on the situation). At the IHN day center, they get help finding a job, get job training, and help finding a place to live. IHN also helps them furnish their new home and get settled.
Moving from church to church each week helps keep the churches from being overburdened and keeps the families from getting too comfortable in the program - the point is that they get on their feet; not stay dependent on the agency for a long time.
Our church isn't big enough (and doesn't have the facilities for showers) to house the families so we help the other church by making dinner and providing overnight hosts and helping set up beds and driving families to and from the day center.
Our church is involved in a lot of local mission work - this is just one of many things they sponsor or support. Maybe, I'll list it all someday. For such a small, aging congregation, I'm pretty proud of their involvement.
This is why I was making desserts today for someone else to enjoy. Abbie kept thinking she was going to get to eat some, and I explained that the pies were made for homeless families, and she was cool with that. We also sent some whipped cream to go with the pies.
*Breaking news* Someone just called to say that there was pie leftover! I hope I can remember to pick it up tomorrow.